Ft. Likens
Fort Likens was established at Barry Springs in northern Cherokee County. All Cherokee Indians including men, women and children living in the area surrounding the fort would have been rounded up and held there until they were sent to Fort Payne.
Ft. Likens housed the federal troops responsible for rounding up the Cherokees on May, 24, 1838 and placing them in an internment camp located nearby at Barry Springs where they were held until they were transported to Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) on the infamous Trail of Tears.
Trail Of Tears Route from James Lasley’s to Fort Payne
Fort Likens was a Federal circular log stockade in “Brown’s Lower Valley” (Broomtown Valley) and was located near the springs on Mill Creek.
Nothing remains of the fort as it was dismantled after the removal – other than a few artifacts found, there is no physical evidence that a fort ever existed on the site.
The site is located within Cherokee County on land ceded by the treaty of New Echota, December 29, 1835.
The nearby Richard Barry log house (1838) was destroyed by fire in 1970. The Cherokee County Historical Society erected a marker here in the mid 1970s. Actual site is private property.